The Sixth International: Patience with Job

Best blog post ever, man. Or close to it.

OK, Mrs. Tilton, a challenge from a fellow fan of The Book of Job.

What exactly is the point, anyway? In modern street terms, I mean. We all know about Job. He suffer, he suffers, he suffers. Lamentation and suffering, and oh why oh why oh why.

Now as near as I can tell, the climax of the story goes something like this (in a crude nutshell): God speaks to Job from the whirlwind and said, "Dude, you don't have any idea what you're talking about. You think life sucks for you? In fact you haven't the slightest clue about the shit I'm dealing with every single fucking day. So just chill out. I've got things under control. I've got a plan. Trust me."

Am I mistaken? Seriously, it's been a bad habit of mine lately that when I get drunk, I start talking about the Bible and the Judeo-Christian conception of God, which some might consider an odd thing for an atheist.

From a purely literary point of view, does not Mr. Yahweh leave the reader with the impression that he's totally in control of the situation?

He does, I think. And yet.